Paris To Ban Free Rent Of E-Scooters From September 1 Due To Citizens' Request - Mayor

Sumaira FH Published April 03, 2023 | 09:52 PM

Self-service electric scooter rentals will not be allowed on the streets of Paris starting September 1, 2023, Mayor Anne Hidalgo announced on Monday

PARIS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 03rd April, 2023) Self-service electric scooter rentals will not be allowed on the streets of Paris starting September 1, 2023, Mayor Anne Hidalgo announced on Monday.

"Parisians have massively opposed self-service electric scooter rentals in the city, giving us a clear directive to act. We will follow their decision. As of September 1, there will no longer be electric scooters freely available in Paris," Hidalgo said on Twitter after a referendum in which Parisians voted en masse to ban e-scooter rentals.

The mayor welcomed Paris's first-ever urban consultative referendum, noting that next spring, the mayor's office will again organize a poll on a number of pressing issues.

On Sunday, nearly 90% of the city's residents voted in favor of banning self-service electric scooters rentals. Over 100,000 of Paris's 1.3 million registered voters cast their ballots. The three main operating companies � California-based Lime, Amsterdam-based Dott and Berlin-based Tier � currently own 15,000 electric scooters in Paris, but their contracts with the City Hall are about to expire.

Hidalgo announced her intention to hold the referendum in January. She noted that traffic on Paris streets involving cars, mopeds, scooters and bicycles had become too chaotic. The mayor also said that by June, the city authorities would develop a set of rules to make the traffic more rational.

On March 29, French Minister of Transport Clement Beaune announced new measures for those using electric scooters, including increasing the minimum age for using the vehicles from 12 to 14 and raising fines for riding them with another person from 35 Euros to 135 euros ($38 to $147).

According to the BFMTV broadcaster, 459 people were injured in accidents involving electric scooters and similar vehicles in 2022, with three people killed. The number of accidents reportedly increased significantly compared to previous years.